Moses' disappointment. Hidden beneath the surface of Parachad Pinchas, the sages uncovered a story of

great poignancy. Moses, having seen his sister and brother, Dine knew that his own time on earth

was coming to a close. He prayed to God to appoint a successor. May the Lord the God of the

spirits of all mankind appoint a man over this community to go out and

come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord's people will not be

like sheep without a shepherd. There is, though, an obvious question. Why does this episode appear here?

It should surely have been positioned seven chapters earlier,

either at the point of which God told Moses and Aaron that they would die without entering the

land, or shortly thereafter, when we read about the death of Aaron. The sages sensed two

clues to the story beneath the story.

The first is that it appears immediately after the episode in which the daughters of Slavhat sought and were granted their father's share in the land.

Was this that triggered Moses' request? A midrash explains,

What was Moses' reason for making this request after declaring the order

of inheritance? Just this, that when the daughters of Slavhad inherited from their father,

Moses reasoned, the time is right for me to make my own request. If daughters inherited is

surely right that my sons should inherit my glory, as he's

wanted a son of his to be his successor.

The second clue, in God's words to Moses immediately before he made the request for the

appointment of his successor.

Then the Lord said to Moses,

go up this mountain of Avarim and see the land I have given the Israelites.

After you have seen it, you two will be gathered to your people as your brother Aaron was.

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